Shubhankar Sharma returns to the Open at the Royal Troon with high expectations and higher hopes than after a tied eighth-place finish in 2023, the best-ever by an Indian in the most prestigious golf event.

Sharma will tee off for the fourth time at golf’s oldest Major, and continues to be the lone Indian in the field since 2019. On his debut Open in 2018, he was Tied-51, while Anirban Lahiri missed the cut at Carnoustie. Since then Sharma has been flying the Indian flag alone — he played and finished tied-51 again in 2019 and he was in top-10 at the 2023 edition.

He came to the Troon in May to have a feel of the course and practise. “I have a very good idea of the golf course. I came here in May and played three very good practice rounds alongside my coach Jessie Grewal. We did a lot of work back then, just as we did before last year’s Open, and it was very beneficial for me.”

The Open is a double celebration for the Sharma family for it is also the week of his birthday, which falls on July 21. His three previous appearances have all been in his birthday week. “It has been just that for me,” says Sharma, who will tee off for his fourth Open start on Thursday.

It has been a mixed year for Sharma, who has registered two top-7 finishes – tied-seventh at the Singapore Classic and tied-fifth at the Italian Open.

Last week, he played electrifying golf over the weekend after making the cut on the line. He carded 70-65 on the weekends with 15 birdies, nine of which came in the final round.

Instead of being disappointed, which he was for about 20 minutes after the round, Sharma said: “That was a very important round for me before The Open. I made six birdies (against six bogeys) and finished even-par in the third round on Saturday.”